Asian Slaw Salad

I love when you get to share a meal. There's something extraordinary about a seemingly ordinary meal around a table. Sharing a meal seems to bring added intimacy and an opportunity for great conversation.

My friend, Claudette, invited my husband and I over to her lovely home and made a delicious meal. The stand-out dish for me was this amazing Asian slaw salad. It was salty, a little sweet, and had a ton of crunch. She served the meal on a variety of colorful Fiesta ware. It was casual and felt special without being precious. You know that feeling? When you know someone made an effort, but it's not too fancy that you're worried about breaking something or accidentally putting your elbows on the table.

This Asian slaw salad is my entrée version of the side that I had at my friend's house. I hope you enjoy it! Here's the recipe.

Ingredients
2 cups shredded purple cabbage
2 cups shredded green cabbage
1 cup English cucumber, julienned (cut into long strips)
1 pack of ramen noodles
1/4 cup almonds, toasted
1 pound chicken
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

For the salad dressing:
1/4 cup canola oil
1 Tablespoon sesame oil
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
2 Tablespoons granulate sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Equipment
Cutting board
Chef's knife
Large mixing bowl
Small mixing bowl or Mason jar
Whisk
Small sauté pan
Large, oven-safe sauté pan

Instructions
Preheat oven to 400*F. Preheat a large sauté pan. Add oil if pan is not non-stick. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Sear chicken on both sides for 5-7 minutes until golden. Transfer chicken to oven and cook until 165*F internal temperature.

In a dry sauté pan, toast almond over medium heat for 4-5 minutes. Stir occasionally. Set aside to cool.

Shred purple and green cabbage. Place in a large bowl. Julienne cucumber. To julienne, cut the cucumber in long strips. Then, cut each strip into matchstick-size rectangles. Place in the large bowl.

To make the dressing, pour canola oil, sesame oil, vinegar, sugar, salt and pepper into a small mixing bowl or Mason jar. Whisk until combined.

About 30 minutes before serving, pour 4 Tablespoons of dressing onto salad mixture to lightly coat. Toss to distribute evenly. **If you're not eating all the salad, wait to dress the salads individually.

Divide the salad into four bowls. Top with sliced chicken. Add a tablespoon of broken, uncooked ramen and toasted almonds. This adds delicious crunch and texture, which is super important in salad.


I hope you enjoy this recipe! Make it and share it with a friend. If you want it to be a side salad, you're welcome to leave off the protein. Let me know if you make this recipe; tag me on social media!

For more tips, encouragement, and recipes for a healthy lifestyle, you can follow me on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, and Twitter. 

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Vegetable and Cheese Board

When you think about entertaining, how do you feel? Are you excited, nervous, anxious, tired? Entertaining can be all of those things, but it doesn't have to be. Entertaining can be fun, easy, and enjoyable. To help make hosting easier, I'm sharing an easy appetizer. It's a vegetable tray with some cheese. It's friendly and not fussy.

 

I love having an appetizer ready for guests. It gives them something to munch on if they're hungry before dinner is ready. It also gives me a buffer if dinner is running late. It means that my guests aren't starving and smelling dinner.

This appetizer is super simple. It's 4 steps: wash, dry, chop, arrange. I like to include seasonal fruits and vegetables. For one, they are local, which means fresher because they weren't shipped far. Secondly, they tend to taste best in season. Fruit is sweeter, and veggies are crisp.

Adding fruits and vegetables to your cheese boards has several benefits. First, fruits and vegetables are nutrient-dense. In other words, they have a ton of vitamins and minerals. So, they're super tasty and great for your health! Secondly, fruits and vegetables tend to be more economical (read less expensive) than cheese. So, you can make a huge fruit, veggie, and cheese board for a fraction of the cost of a cheese board. Third, I love the colors and textures that fruits and veggies add to a cheese board. Visually, there's more interest and I find it more aesthetically pleasing. So in summary, fruit and veggie cheese boards are good for you, good for your budge, and visually pleasing.

If you've ever felt nervous about hosting, here are a few tips.

5 Tips for Low-Stress Hosting 

1) You're hosting not entertaining.
These two terms, host versus entertain, make a world of difference. To me, an entertainer sets a stage and has a flawless performance. A host offers a place to come and gather. An entertainer has the focus on the performance. In contrast, a host gets to welcome and offer a safe space for people to gather, be themselves, and enjoy community.

2) Consider your guest's preferences.
Sometimes the barrier to having guests is the fear of not knowing what to make. So ask! I like to give 2-3 options that way guests have input on the meal.

Also, I think it's important to ask about food allergies. You can also ask if people have any foods they hate.

3) Prep ahead.
I am a planner, type A kind of person. I feel stressed when things are left to the last minute. I don't like to procrastinate. To help me keep my sanity, I like to prep ahead as much as possible. This looks like, menu planning. I try to clean a day or two before the party. I try to have some parts of the meal or appetizer ready to go.

4) Make easy meals.
I encourage you to make easy meals. Make familiar meals; make something you've cooked before. I wouldn't try a new recipe or challenging dish when I host. It just increases anxiety. What if the dish doesn't turn out right? What if it tastes bad? Instead of worrying, cook a go-to, tried and true, tasty meal.

5) Ask for help.
You don't need to be a one woman show. Ask guests to bring something. Or if you're the guest, ask if you can bring something.

What dinners work well? Try a pot luck. Host a taco night - make the entrée. Have a guest bring an appetizer - chips and dip. Encourage someone else to bring a side or dessert. In the Fall and Winter, I love a baked potato bar with fixings. Or, try soups and sandwiches. Also, there's no judgment here for ordering pizza. Who doesn't like pizza?

Try a cooking club. Have people over to cook and then eat together. That sounds so fun! Don't feel like you have to do everything.

Have you ever thought about hosting versus entertaining?
What keeps you from hosting more? 
What motivates you to host?
What are your go-to recipes to make for company?
I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.

For more tips, encouragement, and recipes for a healthy lifestyle, you can follow me on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, and Twitter. 

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